"Just before we got to the well a branch took off his hat and wig, and I saw that he was no Quaker, but my enemy, Rudolph Rugg."
"Rudolph Rugg! A very good name for a romance."
"Then I tried to get away, but it was too late. The man seized me and threw me down the well. But first he told me that he knew who I was, and that I was heir to a large fortune."
"Indeed! How happens it that you are not at the bottom of the well still?"
"I climbed up by the stones till I reached the rope, and then I found it easy. I hurried to where I had left the horse, but it was gone. I supposed that the Quaker had taken it, but James tells me Sam Payson found it and brought it back."
"Look here, boy," said the landlord, sternly, "do you expect me to believe this romance of yours?"
"I don't know whether you will or not, sir. All I can say is that it is the exact truth."
"I cannot keep you in my employ any longer. I have been deceived by you, and should no longer trust you. You certainly have mistaken your vocation. You are not fit to be a stable boy."
"I should like to know what I am fit for," said Tony, despondently.
"I will tell you, then. Judging from the story you have told me, I should think you might succeed very well in writing a romance. I don't know whether it pays, but you can try it."
"Some time you will find out that I have told the truth," said Tony.
"You can stay till to-morrow morning. Wait a minute. Here is a five-dollar bill. That is a fair price for the time you have been with me."
As Tony was going out he came near having a collision with Sam Payson.
"Yes," said Tony. "It was your fault. What made you take that horse?"
"I was afraid Mr. Porter might lose it. Is he in?"
"Yes. You can apply for my place, if you want to."
"Thank you. Here's two dollars for your trouble."
Sam tucked it away with an air of satisfaction.
"Wouldn't I suit you?" asked Sam, in an ingratiating tone.
"No; I've tried you, and you won't suit," was the unexpected reply.
"But I brought back the horse," pleaded Sam, crest-fallen.
"I've paid you for that," said the landlord. "Didn't I pay you enough?"
"Yes, sir; but I thought you'd take me back again."
"I know you too well, Sam Payson, to try any such experiment. The Widow Clark told me yesterday that she wanted to get her boy into a place, and I am going to offer it to him."